Felicia Wu, a John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in the department of food science and human nutrition and the department of agricultural, food and resource economics at Michigan State University has been appointed president-elect of the Society for Risk Analysis. She will be the first person of color to lead the organization in its 43-year history.
Founded in 1980, the Society for Risk Analysis is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and scholarly international society that provides an open forum for all those who are interested in risk analysis.
“SRA allows risk analysis professionals to come together and share our ideas across so many diverse areas of risk — human health, the environment, economics, communication, and engineering — to name a few. We have the chance to talk about putting together projects or policies that we might get off the ground to advance risk analysis efforts in so many different areas of research and government,” Dr. Wu said.
Professor Wu’s research examines the national and global burden of foodborne disease, how improved nutrition can counteract the harmful effects of toxins, and how cost-effective strategies can improve food safety in the United States and worldwide.
“As president, I will focus on the international strength of the SRA,” said Dr. Wu. “I want to engage national and global policymakers to make them aware of this organization and how we can help them shape policy to improve everything from food safety to infrastructure and beyond.”
Before joining the faculty at Michigan State University in 2013, Professor WU was an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied mathematics and medical sciences at Harvard University. Dr. Wu holds a doctorate in engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.